Cold-Case Murder Charge Dissolves With Defendant's Jail Death

David Vander Meer, charged with pushing his wife Bernadette to her death at Angel's Landing in 2006, died at Clark County Detention Center before his extradition hearing on June 26, 2026. Under U.S. law, criminal prosecution terminates upon a defendant's death—no conviction, acquittal, or courtroom determination of guilt. The Washington County Attorney's Office had filed murder and insurance fraud charges after a cold-case reopening, but the outcome forecloses any legal resolution of what happened during that 2006 hike.